Carolinas Baseball Center and On Deck Academy Announce Merger

Short answer is--yes, there will continue to be multiple teams at every age level as well as expansion in the younger groups.

 

Texasleaguar said it best. My son has been in the O's program going on 5yrs. I can promise you one thing, the staff & the Hill family are the best people you will ever meet. A real 1st class family! The development of the kids is the # 1 priority. It's never been about money or winning trophies. I'm excited about the upcoming season and can't wait to see how things develop in the weeks to come. The best in the area under the same roof, who could ask for more? Watch out Panthers, here we come!

 

You said "watch out Panthers, here we come". That made me get excited about the coming season and which area teams do some of the knowledgeable folks here believe will dominate. For example, will this newly merged organization be in a league of its own? Particularly interested in HS age teams.
I tried to rank them based on what I know and quickly decided I don't know enough.

 

2012 CBC Army beat Panthers on a pretty regular basis last year. Not sure about On Deck teams.

2013 CBC Army team very strong. Dont recall them ever being beat by either On Deck team.

with the merger will only be better.

2013 Panthers team should be tough as the picked up 2 CBC Army Pitchers and 2 very strong players from On Deck Black. A large number of CBC Kids were approached by Panthers but elected to stay with CBC

Should be a great Summer

 

Thanks for the info.
The one thing I did hear about the Panthers is that they picked up a few from the Megastars. do they have strong piching?

 

The good thing is there are plenty of talented baseball players in and around the Charlotte area. I really don't see the landscape changing very much. However, what I think will change and is exciting for me will be the increase of tournaments CBC/OD will be holding. Based on their history, OD does a great job in organizing theirs and with the merger and the emergence of CBC being involved in tournaments it should be exciting and an expected high calibre, quality run events.

But as far as team strengths in talented players, SCP will get their players and OD/CBC will continue to do the same.

 

2013 CBC/On Deck strong players team should be hard to beat
KJ Wood of/1st fast hit 3 hr off us in 1 day last tournament - USA baseball
Chris Clair SS Sweet swing great hands Catholic
Jake Barbee 3rd/C BIG strong guy strong arm AK
Josh Black OF runs 6.7 60 great hitter
Ross Jeffries Inf/P MP great athlete QB for MP
Ross Hobson C/OF MP very fast great reciever line drive guy
Brandon Donahue 3rd/P/C STRONG power swing AK

both did lose strong players
Tom Nance to Panthers
Jeremey Shellhorn Panthers
Colin Thacker Hurricanes
Phillip ______ Panthers
another CBC pitcher to Panthers

 

Can't wait for HS season and to see rosters for the summer ball teams. Hope someone keeps the interest up and posts rosters as they are finalized.
And now for a fun question: In a three game series who do you think would win: the best HS team in the state or the best showcase, travel, whatever you call them??
Hal

 

That's a fun question. In a 3 game series it would be very competitive. However, the best (or elite) showcase teams will be 8-10 deep in quality pitchers and those pitchers are cream of the crop guys (Major D1 or Pro type.)

Where the HS team would have an advantage would be the unity of playing together for many years. That's not something you can overlook, but to compare lineups from top to bottom, the talent will be skewed toward the showcase team.

Most of the high level showcase teams will have all of their players signed with a D1 school (many at the major level) with some of their kids drafted. That would be hard for any HS team to match up. But baseball is a funny game and in a 3 game series, a top HS team with 3 quality pitchers could compete.

 

Might Not Realize

Some people may not know just how good CBC has been, even before the merger. As an example, I can speak for the 2011 Diamond Rats Army team. They beat several national powerhouse teams including the Canes South and the Orlando Scorpions and tied ABD Bulldogs.

The Orlando Scorpions win was at the WWBA Perfect Game World Championships in Ft. Myers in the fall of 2009. The Orlando Scorpions team was filled with high D1 and pro level talent, went on to win the the entire tournament, and their only loss along the way was to our 2011 Diamond Rats.

In the East Cobb Perfect Game tournament in Atlanta, these same 2011 Diamond Rats tied the ABD Bulldogs from California. This organization had won the East Cobb tournament the prior year, and this particular team had former MLB players' Steve Garvey and Davey Lopes sons on the team. This ABD Bulldogs team also had a few players that went on to compete in the AFLAC All Star high school game in California later that summer, and has several very high level players that are currently very high on the 2011 draft board. In this same tournament last summer, with approximately 15 area NC, SC and VA teams participating in a field of almost 200 teams, the 2011 Diamond Rats Army team was one of only 3 of those teams remaining that made it to the Top 16 of the tournament.

I'm not sure how many people are aware of these accomplishments of this particular team, but they have played and beaten some of the very best national players. I bring this up because CBC and On Deck were strong before the merger, so it should be exciting to see where they are headed.